Football, Chili, Beer and a Truck….Does it get any more American?

It does if the football game includes the U.S. Naval Academy going up against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame! This weekend was another guys' weekend away from home. I started out on Friday afternoon meeting up with my brothers Dave and Bill, plus two of my nephews Kevin and Derek. We piled into Dave’s truck, and if you remember the size of this mass of manhood then you know we almost had to pile on top of each other, and headed south for our first stop in Newark, Delaware. This stop was only about an hour out of Baltimore, but it was about time to get out of the truck before anyone came to blows from being in such close quarters. Plus, it gave us a much needed rest and we could get up in the morning and head out to the game early. Maybe even start tailgating around the stadium before the game.

Of course, as we left the Hampton Inn on Saturday morning we finally looked at the Parking Pass for the Premium Parking. It must be Premium because you can get in and out really easy and it is close to the stadium, but as we saw on the back of the pass....no grilling is allowed. We decided to change our plans and we would do "cold" tailgating before the game and then grill after the game. It was actually a better plan since the game was at noon and we wouldn't really want to eat so much before the game, and after the game we could relax and let traffic clear out. Plus, with grilling after the game the worst someone could do would be to throw us out of the parking lot....so what did we have to lose?

We got to the parking lot, set up the tent and had a little pre-game tailgate. The site was a little tight to the Orioles' baseball stadium so we backed into the sidewalk area and spread the tent out over a portion of the sidewalk and the back of the truck. Some chips, some cheese, a bloody mary, and a little cover from the drizzle and the rain and it all worked out. The location was great since many people going to the game had to walk by, so we shared comments with Navy and Notre Dame fans.

Around 10:45 we headed into the stadium to find our seats. I had questioned some Mid's about the march-on and was told they had to form up at 10:00, so we wanted to get in to see it from above. Our seats were second row on the Club Level which was nice since that level includes an enclosed area behind the stands. The enclosed area had a slightly higher level of concessions, a bar every 6-8 sections, smaller lines to the restrooms, and large screen tv's so you don't miss anything happening on the field.

We were in place early enough to watch a little of the pre-game warm ups and to view the sights of the stadium a bit. On the big-screen over the endzone we could see the Midshipmen starting to march over to the stadium (they had formed up at Camden Yards, the Oriole's Stadium and very near to the truck) and it took them some time to march from one stadium to the other. Eventually the teams left the field and the Brigade of Midshipmen started to march in. Having been in many of these years ago, and always thinking "what a pain in the butt this is....", it is certainly stirring to see the 4,000+ Midshipmen march on to the field.

Once the Brigade was formed up on the playing field they did an about-face so they were facing the Notre Dame side of the field (this is the picture where you see the tops of all the white hats). They saluted the visitors by calling out "I-R-I-S-H, Go Irish" and then about-faced and did the same with "N-A-V-Y, Go Navy". It was obviously much louder and better received on the Navy side!

The Glee Club sang the National Anthem (exceptionally well, I might add) and the Brigade marched off to the stands.

When the Navy Team ran onto the field, the Team Captains each carried an American Flag. Next the Team Captains from both teams met for the coin toss and they were joined by Secretary of Defense Gates and Secretary of State Rice at mid-field (you don't have that happen at many college football games). Navy won the toss and deferred that ball to the second half.

If you didn't watch the game, then suffice it to say that the first half went fairly slowly with a couple of interceptions and fumbles. Notre Dame's big score came from a blocked punt being run into the endzone and by the end of the half it was Notre Dame 10, Navy 7. During the first half

Tim Whitney was able to join us in the stands and we had a seat available for him next to his Dad, Scott (Scott actually got us the tickets for the game....and are we ever thankful). Tim was a part of the Spirit Squad, a bit of an impromptu cheerleading section, and didn't have to be in uniform.

In the second half Notre Dame took off and quickly built up a 27-7 lead. Then with just over four minutes left in the game it started to rain. At first, heavy drizzle and light rain and with the wind behind us it kept us dry for the first few minutes. Then the wind shifted and, as they say in Texas, "....it came a rain". Sheets of rain were falling and David, Derek and I tried to squeeze under an extra poncho that Scott brought to the game....it was successful for only a few more minutes. Then being on the Club Level came in handy since we went inside and stood with about a hundred other Navy fans watching the game on the big screen tv's.

Just as quickly the rain died down and a few of us went back into the stands to watch Navy move down the field and score. Now there was only about 1 minute 30 sec left in the game and Navy executed an onside kick. A pass and a running play later and Navy narrowed the lead to 27-21. Navy executed another onside kick (at this point Scott said, "Maybe they should do this all the time"). With less than a minute to go Navy tried to get to the endzone again (very close with one dropped pass), but they ran out of downs and the game ended with Notre Dame winning.

Although Navy lost the game it was exciting and fun....and we still had time for some tailgating. We went back to the truck lit up the gas grill and put on some kielbasa sausages, a dutch oven full of chili that I'd made on Thursday night and froze, and some burgers. We managed to get some group photo's. The first is of the Navy guys (two from the Class of 79 and one from the Class of 10), then a group shot of us all. The Notre Dame fans tailgating next to us took the picture for us and also shared some of their bbq shrimp, which was excellent!

Finally, we got back into the truck and drove straight through the evening to get back to New England. I was dropped off North of Hartford at a Park & Ride where I had left my car and the rest of the group headed on to Amherst to drop Derek off at School and then on to NH.

It was a tiring but fun road trip and another great Swenson Adventure!